Kool-Aid Man
The precursor to Kool-Aid Man, "the Pitcher Man", was created on July 10, 1954 by Marvin Potts, an art director for a New York advertising agency hired by General Foods to create an image that would accompany the slogan "A 5-cent package makes two quarts." Inspired by watching his young son draw smiley faces on a frosted window, Potts created the Pitcher Man, a glass pitcher with a wide smile emblazoned on its side and filled with Kool-Aid. It was one of several designs Potts created, but the only one that stuck, and General Foods began to use the Pitcher Man in all of its advertisements.23 Beginning in 1974, Kool-Aid Man was introduced as a walking/talking 6-foot-tall pitcher of cherry Kool-Aid, reportedly voiced by Grey Advertising composer, Richard Berg and created by Alan Kupchick and Harold Karp (of Grey Advertising).45 Children, parched from playing, or other various activities, would typically exchange a few words referring to their thirst, then put a hand to the side of their mouths and by shouting "Hey, Kool-Aid!", whereupon, the Kool-Aid Man would make his grand entrance, breaking through walls, fences, ceilings or furnishings, uttering the famous words "Oh yeah!", then pour the dehydrated youngsters a glass of Kool-Aid from his own pitcher.678 Beginning in 1979, in what was seen as a major advance in children's advertising,[citation needed] the character's mouth was animated to move in synchronization with the voice actor's singing and/or dialogue.91011 By the 1980s, the Kool-Aid Man had attained pop culture icon status and in 1983, he was the subject of two Kool-Aid Man video games for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision systems. He was also given his own short-lived comic book series (prior to that he starred in a two issue series published by the General Foods Corporation in 1975),12 called The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man. This series for three issues under Marvel Comics from 1983–8513 and continued with issues #4-9 under Archie Comics, with art by Dan DeCarlo, from 1987-1990.14 It featured the Thirsties, a group of anthropomorphic sun-like creatures, as villains. In 1994, the live-action character was retired and from that point until 2008, the character became entirely computer-generated; however, other characters, such as the children, remained live-action. In the 2000s, singer and voice-over artist, Frank Simms began voicing the character.151617 In 2009, the live-action character was reintroduced, playing street basketball and battling "Cola" to stay balanced on a log, where he was voiced by Pat Duke. From at least 1979 to 1981, the character was known in Canada as Captain Kool-Aid.181920 In popular culture American artist David Hammons used Kool-Aid and incorporated a stamp of the Kool-Aid Man for a piece that hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.21 The Kool-Aid Man has made several appearances on animated television shows like The Simpsons, Robot Chicken and Family Guy, including as a playable character in Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff.22 The Kool-Aid Man was featured in a joke from the Yo Mama YouTube channel, which poked fun at his catchphrase. The joke being "Yo Mama so ugly, when the Kool-Aid Man busted through her wall, he said 'Oh no!'". In May 2016, the Kool-Aid Man appeared in a television commercial for the American insurance company Progressive, voiced by Brock Powell.23 In 2020, he, alongside Mr. Clean, appeared in a commercial for fellow Kraft Heinz product Planters, shown as an attendee of the funeral of Mr. Peanut. However, his tears end up causing a new, baby Mr. Peanut to grow from the ground.24 Relatives * Baby Nut Category:Characters Category:Characters with relatives